Reject the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in the budget reconciliation bill!

As your constituent, I am urging you to reject the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in the budget reconciliation bill. These cuts will cause devastating harm to communities, especially rural communities, which would see as many as 330 hospitals close or cut back important services while grocery stores close. New research shows that cuts to Medicaid along with SNAP will reduce jobs by 1.2 million nationwide, equivalent to about a 0.8% increase in the unemployment rate. With 16 million people expected to lose their health insurance nationwide, as well as nursing home staffing cut back, it’s estimated that these cuts will cause more than 51,000 people to die each year—you must prevent this shocking outcome. The cuts on the table to SNAP are also horrific, and are the largest cuts to basic food assistance programs in history. Ultimately, the Senate bill will make it tougher for families that participate in SNAP in our community to put food on the table at a time when many families are struggling with high costs of food and other basic needs. I am concerned about shifting SNAP costs to states and how this could strain state budgets. Following the Senate Parliamentarian’s ruling, I hope you will reject any modified cost sharing provision given what is at stake for SNAP recipients and our community as a whole. States will deny SNAP benefits and/or cut other needed programs, leaving vulnerable members of our communities to suffer. Deep SNAP cuts will have a ripple effect across services and would also harm workers and retailers in local communities like mine. Our country doesn’t benefit when we take from the most vulnerable—shockingly, even sacrificing thousands of lives—to give to the wealthy in the form of tax handouts. It is worth noting that this package will dramatically increase federal deficits despite horrid cuts to basic needs because of massive tax breaks for the wealthy. There is a moral cost of abandoning the most vulnerable—people with disabilities (including veterans), children, and seniors—and turning our backs on them contradicts our values. Compassion and care for those in need must remain a core part of who we are. Congress is going too far, too fast—but it’s not too late to change course. Instead of cutting basic needs programs, Congress should focus on helping families who need support. Please prioritize the needs of the majority of Americans and reject these cuts—and vote no on the budget package.